CPI(M) terror funding case: NIA arrests 4th accused

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the fourth accused in connection with the CPI (Maoist) terror funding case, the agency official said, news agency ANI reported.

The NIA, in a statement issued on Monday, said that the accused was arrested on Friday for making efforts for the revival of the banned outfit in Magadh Zone of Bihar.

As per the NIA, the accused identified as Anandi Paswan alias Anand Paswan (46) has more than five criminal cases registered against him in various police stations in Bihar.

"Raids conducted at the premises of Anandi, a resident of village Nirakhpur in Kinjar area of district Arwal, Bihar, had also led to the seizure of illegal arms and ammunition on February 12 in 2022," the agency said, as quoted by ANI.

Notably, this is the fourth arrest in the case related to the terror financing network being jointly operated by CPI (Maoist) cadres and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) in the Magadh region.

Tarun Kumar, Pradyuman Sharma and Abhinav alias Gaurav were nabbed by the NIA earlier, which had chargesheeted two accused in this case on January 20 this year.

NIA investigations so far have revealed that the proscribed terrorist organisation, CPI (Maoist), was trying to raise funds for procuring arms and ammunition and recruiting new cadres to further its criminal and violent designs for reviving itself in the Magadh Zone area.

They were liaising with Naxals and OWGs incarcerated in various Jails in order to revive and strengthen Naxal activities in this region.

NIA had suo-moto registered the case on December 30 in 2021 and continues to investigate the matter.

In a separate case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Lucknow resident from Delhi for his alleged association with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, an official said. Vikas Singh, who hails from Gomti Nagar Extension in Lucknow, had allegedly harboured members of the Bishnoi's terror syndicate, which executed the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on the Punjab Police's intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022. On May 17 this year, the NIA raided three locations in Uttar Pradesh, including Singh's apartment in Lucknow, as part of search operations carried out by the central agency across six states in connection with cases related to narco-terror-gangster nexus, NIA officials said.

(With news inputs from ANI)